It was Valentine's Day on the Citadel. Shops were a buzz with Valentine's related gifts and trinkets. A turian, named Garrus Vakarian, was making his way through the shopping district. He looked a little nervous. This was his first Valentine's Day with his human girlfriend and frankly was feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the amount of potential gifts to get his girlfriend.
He stopped at a flower shop. The shop had a wide array of beautiful flora. They were plants from all over the galaxy. Garrus looked at a pretty light green flower and approached it. It looked very unique and beautiful.
"Um, excuse me, how much is this?" He asked, looking at the asari shopkeeper. The asari smiled,
"Before I tell you, who are you buying for?"
"My human girlfriend." The asari frowned,
"You won't want that flower then sir, it's toxic to humans." Garrus immediately got a horrified expression,
"Here, try this selection instead." The asari said with an inviting smile, gesturing towards a group of flowers that were a range of purples, pinks, blues, and reds. Garrus smiled, relieved. "I'll take the light purple flowers, there." He said, pointing to a group of star-shaped purple flowers. The asari smiled and handed him the flowers that had a plastic wrapping around them with a light blue bow around the plastic wrap. Garrus handed her the credits in return.
Garrus walked away from the shop and looked at the flowers. He still wanted to get his girlfriend more. It seemed to be really common to shower your romantic interest on this human holiday with as much as possible. He looked around, a little unsure of himself. Sure, he could handle a gun with ease. But this romance stuff? He was a bit clumsy and nervous.
"Sir, I see you got some flowers there, I got the best gift for your girlfriend!" Garrus heard a shopkeeper say. He approached the shopkeeper, seeing it was another turian. "Who are you buying for?" Garrus smiled a bit sheepishly,
"My human girlfriend. We've dated for awhile now. She's amazing." The lady turian shopkeeper smiled and took out a large crimson red heart shaped box. "Humans love chocolate! Can't get enough of it." She said, her finger tapping the box. "There's about 40 pieces of small chocolates in this box. I got the best value too here on the Citadel." Garrus nodded, handing her the credits. The turian shopkeeper smiled. "Fantastic! I'll put it in a bag for you." She said, putting the large heart shaped box in a plastic bag that had the words "Happy Valentine's Day" on it with a big smile on it. Garrus thanked the keeper and returned to where he was before. "One more thing I think would be best." Garrus said to himself out-loud, walking down the alley he was in and looking at the shops as he walked.
Garrus stopped at a stuffed animal shop. There was a lot of really cute, fuzzy looking plush toys. Some had colorful ribbons on them. Others were poseable. There was a elcor shopkeeper.
"Much excitement, turian. How may I help you?" He asked Garrus. Garrus smiled.
"I honestly am not sure. I am buying for my human girlfriend." He said truthfully.
"Much joy, turian. Human girls love teddy bears. Confusingly, They are a fierce predator on Earth, but make a great gift on the human's Valentine's Day." The elcor said, looking at a group of teddy bears on a shelf in his shop. Garrus nodded, looking at the variety of bears. Some were tiny, some were about the size of his girlfriend. "I'll take the light tan one with the red bow." Garrus said, pointing to a light brown colored teddy bear that was a little bit fuzzy and about the size of his girlfriend. "Thank you, deeply satisfied, turian." The elcor said as he got the teddy bear and handed it to Garrus. Garrus handed him the credits and put the teddy bear over his shoulder.
"I think this is enough." He said, looking at the gifts he just bought. He walked back to the Normandy.
"Oh, Garrus, look what you have!" Tali exclaimed excitedly, looking at the wide array of gifts he had. Garrus smiled a little shyly.
"Yeah, where's Shepherd?" He asked her. Tali clapped her hands together once, rather cheerfully.
"She's up in her room. Good luck!" Tali winked. She knew Garrus couldn't see that she winked, but she winked. Garrus nodded and walked over to the elevator, going to the Captain's quarters.
Garrus breathed in deeply, very nervous. He wanted everything to be just right. He knocked a few times at her door. "Coming!" He heard Shepherd from the other side of the door. The door opened shortly after.
"Garrus!" Shepherd said rather lovingly and smiled, hugging him. Garrus awkwardly hugged her back, one of his arms still holding the giant teddy bear over his shoulder.
"Uh, hi Shepherd." He sounded like a nervous school boy.
"Where have you been?" Shepherd looked rather amused, looking at the variety of gifts that Garrus had on him. Garrus let out a small, nervous chuckle.
"I went to the Citadel." Garrus said as the two walked into Shepherd's room. Garrus gulped, very nervous.
"Um, flowers." He said, handing Shepherd the beautiful arrangement of flowers. Shepherd smiled. She took a sniff of the flowers,
"They're beautiful, Garrus." She said, walking over to her desk and placing the flowers down. Garrus nodded quickly before taking the big teddy bear off of his shoulder and showed it to Shepherd.
"The shopkeeper said human girls love these...bears? He called them. I know they're predators but he sai-" Garrus was cut off by Shepherd giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Shepherd smiled, hugging the bear.
"He's adorable. I'll place him right over here by my bed." Shepherd said, hugging the large bear and placing him down on her side, right by her night stand. The bear's head tilted to the side ever so slightly. Garrus smiled, feeling his nervousness start to go away.
"One more thing." He said, taking the large heart shaped container out of the bag. "I was told chocolate is delicious to humans. It's in the heart." He said, handing it to Shepherd. Shepherd chuckled lightly.
"Thank you, Garrus." She said, putting the heart down on her desk. She opened up the container and took out a small circle shaped piece of chocolate. She swallowed the piece of chocolate and turned back towards Garrus.
"The chocolate and gifts are great." Garrus smiled, hearing that she was very happy with the gifts.
"I appreciate the gifts. How about we go see a movie on the Citadel now?" Shepherd offered. Garrus nodded.
"Did you want to get changed or anything?" He asked, having no idea what the proper clothing attire was for movies on the Citadel. Shepherd shrugged,
"I can go as is." She said, giving a quick little twirl. Garrus smiled and nodded.
"Ok, let's go."